Releasable binder for check blanks or the like



A. B. HOWE March 13, 1962 RELEASABLE BINDER FOR CHECK BLANKS OR THE LIKE Filed June 23, 1958 Nl aan INVENTOR. Va. /7 /L/o we BY M i ffm@ A 7' role/VE,V

1411 lulrxw United States Patent iiiice 3,025,08l Patented Mar. i3, 1962 3,025,081 RELEASABLE BHJDER FR CHECK BLANKS R THE UKE Alvah B. Howe, 6610 127th S.W., Tacoma 99, Wash. Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,636 14 Claims. (Cl. 281-47) of the type disclosed in Howe U.S. Patent 1,376,095, and

Howe U.S. Patent 775,821.

Heretofore, in a releasable securing means for check blanks arranged in check and register books of the types disclosed in said Howe patents, the check blanks are rei tained by means including threaded thumb screws or other comparatively bulky and complex devices which suffer i' the disadvantage of adding materially to the overall thickness of the book when folded. Further, in such prior check blank securing devices, manipulation of the securing means for insertion or removal of blank checks is inherently somewhat cumbersome because of the threaded retaining means involved.

lt is accordingly an important object and advantage of the present invention, to provide a releasable binder or securing means of minimum thickness, to rmly retain a paper pad or the like and to be accommodated most advantageously in a fold-type book without unnecessary bulkiness or waste space. A further object and advantage of the present invention is to present pad securing means readily manipulatable to pad releasing or pad engaging positions without removal and consequent possible loss of any parts of the binder or without unthreading or rethreading of any of the elements involved. lt is a further and related object and advantage of the present invention to provide a paper pad releasable binder means not involving or necessitating detachment of any element while manipulating the same to disengage or secure a pad therein.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention include presentation of paper pad retaining means consisting basically of only two operative parts, wherein the elements are of simple construction, easily and economically fabricated from fiat sheet metal stock, and simply assembled, the said pad retaining parts including a pivoted clasp, preferably cooperating with upright posts to snugly hold the paper pad in place and functioning in a manner to hold or lock both the clasp and pad in secured position.

Further and more specic objects and advantages of the present invention include provision of a fixed base plate cooperating with a pivotally movable clasp member attached to said base plate and constructed so that the clasp member when in pad securing position substantially engages the upper ends of upright, pad receiving post means on said base plate, the clasp having a locking nnb cooperating with a post-associated cutout'in said base plate to lock said clasp member in pad securing position.

Another and more specific object and advantage of the present invention is to present, in a paper pad releasable securing means, the combination of a base strip and a pivoted clasp, wherein both the base strip and an undersegment of the clasp are offset upwardly from the flat surface on which the same are mounted to permit easy operation of the clasp member without marring of the flat surface and to provide suflicient room for engagement and release of a locking nub on said under segment.

Yet another object and advantage of the present invention is to provide, in a paper pad securing means, a fixed base plate and a pivotally mounted clasp member, the said clasp member being of reverse bend form, i.e. substantially U-shaped in transverse cross section, and being mounted in a manner so that one of the attachment means for said base plate constitutes the pivot axis for said clasp member.

An additional object and advantage of the present invention is to provide, in a paper pad securing means comprising a fixed base plate and a pivoted clasp member, an upper free edge on the clasp member which is curved outwardly to move smoothly and press down edges of the paper pad to automatically cause said clasp member to yield and maintain substantially constant pressure engagement with the paper pad and anchor the same to posts on the base member, thereby accommodating pads varying somewhat in thickness, all without any separate adjustment being necessary for such pad thickness deviations as may be normally encountered.

Yet another object and advantage of the present invention is to present a paper pad releasable securing means of compact construction wherein a pivoted clasp member is provided with a thickness dimension not substantially larger than the thickness dimension of a pad to be secured thereby, the upwardly facing segment of said clasp member is basically fiat, solid and unbroken, thus presenting a smooth surface for ready display of .advertising or the like.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a typical form and specific application thereof, presented in connection with the accompanying illustrations, wherein like parts refer to like numbers, and wherein:

FIG. l represents a plan view of an open check and register book, generally of the form disclosed in the aforesaid Howe Patent #1,376,095, and incorporating an improved -releasable binder means, according to the present invention, receiving and securing a punched pad of check blanks therein;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the check pad binder means shown in FIG. 1, with the check pad removed therefrom, for clarity of illustration, and with the clasp member thereof shown in closed, i.e. check pad retaining position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the check pad binder means shown in FIG. 2, with the clasp member thereof shown in open position, and with a check pad applied to the upright posts of the base member being shown in diagrammatic, dotted line;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional View, taken longitudinally of the check pad binder means illustrated in FIG. 2, substantially along line 4 4 thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional View of the check pad binder means illustrated in FIG. 2, taken substantially along line 5 5 thereof, and showing a fragment of a check pad in secured position.

Turning to a more detailed consideration of the typical form and specific application of the present invention as illustrated in FIGS. l through 5, check and register book 10, having a stii'l or llexible one-fold leafs as desired, includes a register book 11, shown open at the last page thereof and inserted under metallic retaining strip 12, the left-hand leaf of binder 10 mounting a ilexible tongue 13 under which any desired number of pages 14 of register book 1i are inserted and retained during use. `It will be understood that binder 10, register book 1l, and metallic strip l2 iixedly mounted in binder 10 as by rivets 15 and 16, together with tongue 13 are conventional per se, according to the arrangement presented in the aforesaid Howe U.S. Patent #1,376,095.

Characterizng the improvement in pad binder means a of the present invention, the check pad binder means shown as a part of the check andY register book illustrated in FIG. l includes a base plate 12' anchored to binder ldby means of said rivet 1d and Arivet 17, `said base plate 12 for convenience of construction and fabrication actually being an integral extension of the metallic plate 12 receiving the back leaf of register book 11'. Rivet 16 is accordingly a common anchor means for plate 12 and' check pad binder means base plate 12. As will be evident, however, said base plate 12 functionally can as well be separated from and separately mounted in book 10. as regards metallic plate 12.

Said check pad binder means base plate 12 is provided with upset portions 1Sr and 19 near respective anchoring rivets 16' and 17, Vfor reasons discussed hereinafter. Said base plate 12 also comprises a plurality of ments 26 and Z7. Eyelet 29 is provided at one end of' lower segment 26 to pivotally anchor said clasp member to rivet 17' as shown, said lower segment 26 of clasp member 25 being upset slightly, as indicated at 30, between said eyelet 29 and saidlower segment 26 in a manner spacing the lower surface of' said lower segment. 26 from the adjacent surface ofbook constituting a mounting surface for the binder means. This upset or offset.

3h in lower segment 26 of the clasp member, cooperating with the upset portions 13 and 19 of base plate 12', serves to provide clearance for engagement and release of locking nub 31, also provided in said lower segment 26, with aperture 22 in base. plate 12', which locking nub 31 and aperture 21 function as a locking means for c lasp member 25. when in pad securing position (see FIGS. 2 and4).

A spacer means, shown in the form of awasher, 32 is` also an importan-t and useful element in the4 pivotal and locking action of clasp member 25 when in pad `binding position because said washer 32 spaces. pivotally mounted eyelet 29 from the surface of book 10 andprovides a metal wear surface for said eyelet 29. Without aspacer means such as washer 32, the edges. of eyelet 29 tend to dig into and rnar the surface of bookY 1t), whichis usually cardboard or paper, with resultant objectionable wear and disguration of' the appearance thereof.

As willbe observed from an inspection of FG. 4, the dimensional considerations involved in respective upset portions 18 and 19'of base plate 12 and upset portion 3i) in lower segment 26 of clasp 25 are such that locking nub 31 is disengageablefrom aperture 22 without the necessity o-f pressure engagement with the surface of book 1t), which feature also provides for minimum wear" and marring of the surface of book 10 and renders the release pressure required for engaging or disengaging` locking nub 31 substantially constant.

One very important featureof the' disclosed combination of upright posts and 21V and clasp member 25, particularly upper segment 27of the latter, resides in the particular design thereof toV provide that the upper or free endsy of said posts 20' and 21 are substantially engaged of' said clasp member 25 when said clasp member 25 is in pad'retaining position. This relationship is clearly presented in FIG. 5, for example, and provides positive anchoring of all ofthe individual sheets ofpad 33, partieularly'the upper few sheets thereof, insuring that the. same are retainednot only by said posts 2 0 and 21 but' `by the inside surface of the upper segment 27' also by the slight downward pressure of said upper seg- 21 and the upper surface of the check pad 33. While the tolerable thickness of check pads to be so retained by clasp member 25 and upright posts 20 and 21 is fairly limited, it is tobeobserved that the yieldability resulting from inherent flexibility of clasp member 25 permits a verypractical degree of accommodation as to pad thicknesses receivable by the clasp member. This is a very practical consideration in use of the binding means of the present invention because check padsv or the like will vary somewhat in thickness dimension from one sample, to the next and it is important that any such variations or deviations be accommodated by the clasp member automatically and without necessity of individual adjustment.

To facilitate movement of the clasp member 25A into check pad binding position, as diagrammatically indicated at 34 in FIG. 3, the upper segment 27 of said clasp member 25 is advantageously provided withV an upwardly turned lip or edge 35 which acts to press and compress the check pad downwardly as the clasp member 25V moves into padV retaining position. While such lip or edge 35 is not needed on all applications, it will be readily understood that such serves to more'eiectively compress the pad and cause the clasp member 25 to yield more` accommodatingly to a given presented check pad thickness. Desirably, also, said lip or edge 35V is extended somewhat, at the endof upper segment 27 nearest the pivoted mounting for the clasp member, as indicated at 36, since.

unbroken in nature, providing a very effective displayl surface for advertising and the like, as desired.' Further,

since said upper segment 27 is formed from at'sheet and is essentially thin in nature, the binding means ofthe present invention enjoys advantage of being only slightly thicker than the thickness of the pad itself, providing less` bulkiness anda very desirable compactness insofar as the necessary thickness dimension of the book 10 when closed.

While the foregoing specific disclosure relates the present invention to a particular application thereof as a check pad binder in' a check and register book, it will'be readilyV understood that such is also useful to bind pads of paper sheets other than check blanks, such as mernopads, dailycalendars, or the` like, and is equally suitable for any applicationJrequiring releasable retention of a consumable multiple paper sheets to be secured or mounted to a flatsur.- face, particularly where minimum thickness and compactness are important considerations. While the terrn pad, and more specically check'pad has been employed to describe the multiple paper sheets releasably bound by' the binder of the presentv invention, it will be readily understood that these terms are to be' construed as contemplating multiple paper sheets ofl a like size', either bound together along one edge byy adhesive or in loose form, or otherwise;

It will be also understood that, while the form of the invention specificallyy disclosed is applied to binder means receiving a pad havingy holes punched along one edge thereof, and employs upright post means receiving such holes, the invention is nevertheless applicable4 to binder means securing a pad without punched holes, the base plate and pivoted clasp member then being employed without upright post means, since these elements can of" forms and' applications thereof will occur to those in the.. art, and the invention with respect to allsuch forms and applications is to be construed within the spirit and scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a binder book, paper pad securing means comprising a metallic base plate, means attaching said base plate to said book at points spaced slightly farther apart than the width of the pad to be secured and having a central portion upset away from and spaced from said book, said central portion being provided with spaced upset pad receiving posts formed by upsetting portions of said base plate, said pad securing means further comprising a clasp member having upper and lower generally parallel segments and an upstanding connecting portion therebetween, said clasp member being pivotally anchored at one end of said lower segment t0 one of the said means attaching said base plate to said book, rendering said clasp member pivotally movable to pad securing position with said clasp member lower segment positioned between the book and the upset central portion of said base plate and with said clasp member upper segment positioned over and substantially touching said pad receiving posts.

2. The combination according to claim l, wherein said anchor means mounting one end of said base plate and the pivotally mounted end of said clasp member to said binder comprises a spacer means separating the anchored end of said clasp member from said binder to obviate binding or wear therebetween.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said anchor means comprises a rivet and said spacer means is a washer.

4. The combination according to claim l, wherein said clasp member upper segment is provided with an outwardly curved lip to facilitate application thereof in pressure engagement with said pad.

5. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said clasp member lower segment is provided with a nub lock means, engaging an aperture in said base plate when said clasp member is in pad securing position, the engagement and disengagement of said nub means and aperture being accommodated by the upset, spaced relationship of said base plate central portion.

6. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said clasp member lower segment is also upset and slightly spaced from said book.

7. The combination according to claim 6, wherein said clasp member lower segment is provided with a nub lock means, engaging an aperture in said base plate when said clasp member is in pad binding position, the engagement and disengagement of said nub means and aperture being accommodated by the spaced relationship of said base plate central portion and said clasp member lower segment from said book.

8. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said clasp member upper segment is of generally flat, thin wall construction and thus does not substantially increase the thickness dimension necessary to accommodate the check pad and pad securing means in said book when closed.

9. In combination with a check book, check blank securing means comprising a metallic base plate anchored to said book by attachment means at points spaced slightly further apart than the width of the checks to be secured and having a central portion upset away from and spaced from said book, said central portion being provided with spaced upset check blank receiving posts formed by upsetting portions of said base plate, said check blank securing means further comprising a clasp member in the form of a return bend, transversely considered, with upper and lower generally parallel segments and an upstanding connecting portion therebetween, said clasp member being pivotally anchored to one of the attachment means holding said base plate, in a manner so that said clasp member is pivotally movable to check blank securing position with said clasp member lower segment positioned between the book and the upset central portion of said base plate and with said clasp member upper segment positioned over andcoutacting the upper ends of said check blank recelving posts.

10. In combination with a flat mounting surface, a binding means for a punched paper pad, comprising a base plate of a configuration to lie in slightly spaced relation to said mounting surface, said base plate being provided with upright post means for receiving the holes in the punched paper pad, means attaching the ends of said base plate to said at mounting surface, a clasp member having upper and lower generally parallel segments dimensioned to iit around and compressively clasp the punched edge of said paper pad to said base plate when said pad is placed on said upright post means, the upper such clasp member segment being of a form presenting an essentially at, unbroken clasping surface to an edge of said pad when in pad binding position, and means mounting said clasp member for pivotal movement in a direction substantially parallel to said mounting service, said clasp member lower segment having locking nub means pressingly engaging an aperture in said base plate when said clasp member is in pad binding position.

11. The combination according to claim 10', wherein the said base plate is of generally flat, thin sheet metal construction and the upright post means: are formed integrally thereon.

l2. The combination of claim 11, wherein said upright post means are of a thin, substantially rectangular conguration, with the major dimensions thereof extending substantially perpendicularly of the clasped pad edge.

13. A releasable binding means for a pad of punched sheets of paper or the like, comprising .a flat mounting surface, a base plate mounted on and centrally spaced away from said mounting surface, upright post means on said base plate, a clasp member pivotally mounted on said mounting surface by pivot means at one end of said base plate, said clasp member having a generally 'U-shaped cross-section, transversely considered, and being pivotally mounted in a manner so that the lower segment thereof is positioned between said mounting and said base plate and the upper segment thereof is substantially in the plane of the upper ends of said upright post means when said clasp member is in pad binding position, said base plate further comprising an aperture and the said clasp member lower segment further comprising an upset nub means pressingly engaging said aperture when said clasp member is in pad binding position.

14. Paper pad securing means comprising a metallic base plate, means attaching said base plate to a mounting surface at points spaced slightly further apart than the width of the pad to be secured, said base plate having a central portion upset away from and spaced from said mounting surface, said central portion being provided with spaced upset pad receiving posts formed by upsetting portions of said base plate, said pad securing means further comprising a clasp member having upper and lower generally parallel segments and an upstanding connecting portion therebetween, said clasp member being pivotally anchored at one end of said lower segment to one of the said means attaching said base plate to said mounting surface, rendering said clasp member pivotally movable to pad securing position with said clasp member lower segment positioned between said mounting surface and the upset central portion of said base plate and with said clasp member upper segment positioned over and substantially touching said pad receiving posts.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 802,893 Slane et al. Oct. 24, 1905 1,376,095 Howe Apr. 26, 1921 1,579,661 Richardson Apr. 6, 1926 1,736,558 Van Buren Nov. 19, 1929 2,460,718 Stevens Feb. 1, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 844,871 France May 1, 1939 

